Dehradun: Admitting paucity of doctors in the hill state, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna on Wednesday said the state government had increased the period for appointment of contractual doctors from one to three years to help improve the situation.

Unveiling a statue of freedom fighter Govardhan Tiwari in Almora, he said steps were afoot to address medical and drinking water problems of the area on a priority basis.

Later addressing a press conference, Bahuguna said infrastructure development in mountain regions of the state would get a boost with the construction of a Vidhan Bhawan at Gairsain.

Adequate budgetry allocations had been made to give a fillip to infrastructure development in hill regions, he said. Concrete steps were being taken to stop migration of the hill people in search of work to other places, Bahuguna said.

He said progress of development schemes sponsored by the Centre was being reviewed on a regular basis and he was touring various districts to ensure that the money released for the schemes were spent within the stipulated time-frame.